FEATURES
Making the Most of Winter Training...
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Saturday, 17 December 2016 23:10
By DANIEL SCAGNELLI (usatriathlon.org)
It's back … that time of year when you're packing on pounds as fast as you were slamming gels during the peak of race season several months ago. Days are shorter, colder and snow has covered the ground in many areas of the country. This is a tough time of year to stay motivated and get in quality training time.
winter runningWhile it’s great to taper back the volume and intensity of your training, reducing the pressure on yourself to perform at peak levels, it is still important to have a plan for the offseason and preseason just like you do for the rest of the year. With some simple planning you will not only maintain your fitness; you’ll make positive progress positioning you for a great season this year....
Running vs Triathlon Running...
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Friday, 16 December 2016 23:10
By Matt Fitzgerald (triathlete.com)
Running after riding a bike is different from running on fresh legs. Prior activity makes you feel heavy-legged and uncoordinated when you start running. Nobody runs as fast after a hard bike ride as he or she does in a standalone run. But some triathletes lose less running performance off the bike than others. For this reason, the best runners are not always the best triathlon runners.
Consider the examples of Greg Whiteley and Hunter Kemper. Whiteley was an outstanding college runner. At Brown University he won an NCAA Championship title and was a six-time All-American. His best 5K time was 13:26. Kemper was a solid but unexceptional college runner. At Wake Forest University he earned All-Conference status once. His best time for 5K was more than a minute slower than Whiteley’s. ...
Quality vs Quantity...
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Thursday, 15 December 2016 23:10
By Bobby McGee (Usa Triathlon Magazine)
As an age-group triathlete, you don’t have to run high mileage to be a good triathlon runner
If you want to run well off the bike, be bike fit. No amount of run training is going to deliver a great run for you in a triathlon without fully considering bike demands. Too often triathletes expect run training without sufficient conditioning work in the saddle to deliver a great run off the bike. Three-time ITU world champion and great runner Peter Robertson said he never fared well in major races when he was super run fit, but he ran great when he was bike fit. The idea is to be fitter than the bike ride requires in order to buffer your ability to run....
Cathy's Masters Thesis...
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Tuesday, 13 December 2016 23:10
Not long ago we received this email from Minnesota's Triathlete of the Decade (2001-2010), Cathy Yndestad, who is finishing her Masters degree at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland:
As part of my master's thesis at the University of Lucerne, I am conducting research on Mobile Fitness Technology trends. By understanding behaviors and usage patterns, health promotion professionals can design and implement more valuable tools to improve user experience and encourage lasting behavior change.
Mobile Fitness Technology refers to applications which provide an array of fitness programs and advice related to physical fitness. This can include activity tracking, activity logging, and online coaching systems. MyMoves, Strava and MyFitnessPal are examples of mobile fitness applications.
Mobile Fitness Technology also includes wearable devices such as heart rate monitors, activity trackers and GPS units, which are used to monitor your physical activity. Garmin, Fitbit, and Polar are common brands of wearable fitness devices....
The All Star Team...
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Monday, 12 December 2016 23:10
Yesterday we revealed some of the reasoning behind the determination of men's Team MInnesota. Today we attempt to make sense out of the women's list.
The reason we use the expression "make sense" here, is that the women's talent pool is deeper than ever, and the ladies are, more than ever, very evenly matched.
When discussing the men's list, we described the 4th and 5th positions as basically interchangeable. On the women's list, it can be argued the positions two through ten are somewhat interchangeable. We could argue that there was a nine-way tie for 2nd, and not be too far off. We, therefore, do not look at women's Team Minnesota as a ranking of athletes, but as an All Star Team.
Let's look at the list: ...
